Cerner
Electronic Medical Records
Most people would agree that if 2005 was "the year" of anything, it was the year of the electronic medical record (EMR). This was the year health information technology finally went mainstream, in the public consciousness, following last year's announcement of a national strategy. David Brailer led the push to back EMRs and data exchange. Pilots were announced with some limited federal funding, and regional health information organizations (RHIO) proliferated. You could even argue that …
... Read more...KLAS gives Unibased Systems Architecture top rating
Utah-based healthcare IT ratings group KLAS has handed its number one vendor ranking to Unibased Systems Architecture (USA). The research group released its annual year end listing of the top twenty vendors. The rating puts the tiny company ahead of heavyweights like Cerner, Epic and Misys. USA was ranked top in Enterprise Scheduling and OR Management. As usual, Epic won inpatient charting and EMR for physician groups of 25 and over . The KLAS ratings' impact on the healthcare IT vendor …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Houston weighs $2.8 million air traffic control system for ambulances; MRSA reaching pandemic proportions?; and muc
> GE Healthcare will integrate its wireless medical products into MobileAccess Networks' solutions, and sell and install the systems to its clients. This is a coup for the small company which provides multiple wireless services over its infrastructure to hospitals, and is in fierce competition with Innerwireless, Meru Networks, Airwave and others. Article
> Infectious disease …
... Read more...Tough times for Cerner
Cerner's shares continued to slip as Wall Street interpreted a report published on Tuesday questioning the company's accounting practices. By the end of trading Thursday, Cerner shares were down to $83.95, falling $9.13 in very heavy trading. They are in the same range midday Friday.
How real are the questions surrounding the company? The firms behind the allegations say there are warning flags that aggressive revenue recognition tactics are in use. Questionable (well actually, …
... Read more...Cerner shares drop on analyst criticism
Wall Street reacted unhappily to a report published in The Wall Street Journal addressing insider concerns about accounting practices at Cerner. The company's shares, which have been close to the $100 mark for much of the last month, fell as much as 11 percent before recovering later in the day. "Long & Short" columnist Jesse Esinger quoted analysts at three forensic accounting firms--Assay Research, Glass Lewis and Gradient--which have all raised questions about the …
... Read more...HIT: CPOE study draws heavy criticism
A study in the December issue of Pediatrics linking the introduction of a CPOE systems with an increase in mortality rates at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital is getting considerable attention. Researchers uncovered what appeared to be a significant spike in mortality rates for patients at the hospital, which uses Cerner's Millennium CPOE software. It appears that the process, which was used for CPOE in the intensive care unit (ICU), had some serious flaws; but it also …
... Read more...Hospital retreats from Emergisoft's EMR
Following yesterday's news that a CPOE system from Cerner was tied to an increase in patient mortality rates, there was more bad news for electronic medical record vendors today. Arizona-based Navapache Regional Medical Center said it will not continue a trial of the Emergisoft EMR it started last December in its emergency department. The hospital is going back to scanning paper records. That, the hospital says, is as electronic as it wants to be for now. "Emergisoft's weak point was its …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Cerner study backs CPOE safety; American Healthways moves to larger facility; and much more...
> A day after a major study in the journal Pediatrics found an increase in mortality rates associated with one of its CPOE implementation, a dueling study sponsored by Cerner finds the exact opposite. Release
> Disease management specialist American Healthways says it has outgrown its existing headquarters and is moving to a larger …
... Read more...Editor's Corner
The stock market seems to be experiencing a pre-Christmas rally. Among healthcare IT stocks Cerner is taking part, showing that the market is anticipating the healthcare system will continue to increase its technology spending. In addition, health insurers like Empire Blues and United HealthGroup are starting to deliver CRM solutions that are, while not there yet, at least approaching …
ALSO NOTED: IBM distributes computing effort to help fight AIDS; Increase in employer healthcare costs slowing; and much more..
> IBM announced a major distributed computing effort designed to help fight AIDS. Article
> The rate of increase in employer healthcare costs slowed to 6.1 percent in 2005. The trend reflects the growing tendency among employers to pass health care cost along to workers. …
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